The Week 13 matchup for the Pittsburgh Steelers against Arizona Cardinals was supposed to be a game in which the offense continued to build off its strong performance in Week 12 on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals. It was supposed to be a game where the run game dominated one of the worst run defenses in football, put up more points in a game than they have all year, and really established themselves as clear contenders in the AFC.
Instead, the Steelers fell flat on their face Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, getting embarrassed in ugly fashion in a 24-10 loss to the Cardinals, dropping to 7-5 on the season and significantly hindering their playoff chances in a tough AFC.
Sunday’s loss was par for the course for the Steelers in that one like it seems to happen year after year.
Former NFL offensive lineman and media member Ross Tucker wasn’t too thrilled with the Steelers’ loss Sunday, calling it an “ugly, ugly” performance from a team that is perceived as a playoff team on the Ross Tucker Podcast.
“Game that they lose that they should not lose every year. Every year! A far inferior team, usually at home, and usually like a team like the Cardinals or the Texans or someone that’s not even like…doesn’t even have a pedigree or a history,” Tucker said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page.
Tucker is right in that it seems to happen every year with the Steelers.
There was the loss to Zach Wilson and the New York Jets last season at home, a loss to the Las Vegas Raiders at home in 2021, and before that a loss to the Washington Football Team in 2020 at home.
Those aren’t even the worst losses in the Mike Tomlin era, either.
They just have a tendency to play down to the competition at times, and in big spots, typically at home.
It’s rather frustrating, but it’s typical at this point.
Now, sitting at 7-5 on the season, the Steelers are in a tough spot, especially with quarterback Kenny Pickett reportedly set to miss a few weeks following an ankle procedure Monday morning after he exited Sunday’s loss in the second quarter. That injury Pickett suffered Sunday was rather odd from Tucker’s vantage point, and if the Steelers are without Pickett for multiple weeks, Tucker believes the franchise should turn to Mason Rudolph.
“Kenny Pickett got hurt diving for the goal line. Kind of weird, isn’t it? To hurt your ankle diving headfirst for the goal line like that doesn’t seem like that should be the case,” Tucker said. “At any rate, suppose he’s gonna have a procedure today, be out two to three weeks. Listen, if he has a procedure, I mean, for his ankle, that sounds to me like it’d be more than two to three weeks. That sounds pretty optimistic.
“Trubisky wasn’t any better. Trubisky is not good. I’d probably put Mason Rudolph in there to be honest with you at this point.”
Pickett’s injury was a bit strange. He took a big shot diving for the goal line and his head hit the turf hard. But he came up unable to really put much weight on his ankle and was wearing a walking boot on his right ankle in the second half while in street clothes. He was dealing with an ankle issue coming into the game, so it’s not a surprise he re-injured it.
As far as Trubisky and Rudolph, Tucker’s suggestion to give Rudolph a shot isn’t the first time someone has said it, and it won’t be the last this week, or moving forward depending on Pickett’s recovery timeline. Trubisky has had his ups and downs with the Steelers. He’s given then good enough play to win some games, but he also has one major Achilles heel that the Steelers struggle to overcome: turnovers.
We’ll see what lies ahead for the Steelers, but right now it’s clear it’s Trubisky’s team with Pickett on the shelf.
